Saturday, August 30, 2003
An interesting article on what to do with one's life.
"Probably the most debilitating obstacle to taking on The Question is the fear that making a choice is a one-way ride, that starting down a path means closing a door forever."
"Aerospace engineers are obsessed with redundancy and backup systems. Russell knows that metals give, that gears slip, and that motors overheat, and he plans for that in his designs. Not everything has to go right in order for it to work. And that way of thinking shows up in every aspect of his life, including how he achieves his ambitions. Which I took as Extractable Lesson number two: His backup plans do not lead to different destinations, such as "If I don't get into business school, I'll be a schoolteacher." His backup plans lead to the same destination, and if he has to arrive late by a back road, that's fine."
"If you don't like The Inevitable Cocktail-Party Question, maybe it's partly because you don't like your answer."
Joel M
"Probably the most debilitating obstacle to taking on The Question is the fear that making a choice is a one-way ride, that starting down a path means closing a door forever."
"Aerospace engineers are obsessed with redundancy and backup systems. Russell knows that metals give, that gears slip, and that motors overheat, and he plans for that in his designs. Not everything has to go right in order for it to work. And that way of thinking shows up in every aspect of his life, including how he achieves his ambitions. Which I took as Extractable Lesson number two: His backup plans do not lead to different destinations, such as "If I don't get into business school, I'll be a schoolteacher." His backup plans lead to the same destination, and if he has to arrive late by a back road, that's fine."
"If you don't like The Inevitable Cocktail-Party Question, maybe it's partly because you don't like your answer."
Joel M
Friday, August 29, 2003
"The denizens of Open Cultures want their connected collectivism to liberate the world from regulations, markets, and intellectual property. But what if victory only clears the way for corruption of their beloved culture? When I listen to Ceca, I have to wonder what dark passions and ancient evils have been held in check by the grim totalitarianism of the profit motive. We may yet find out."
While the article swims in Sterling's trademarked journalistic hyperbole, it raises a fundamental point about information technology: free software is better software, but how do you get paid for it?
In some cases, software is just a part of hardware. This means that the price a piece of software that runs a specific piece of hardware can be included in the price of that hardware, with a premium added for upgrades and access allowed so that newer, better versions can be added as they become available.
What about pieces of software that are not so intimately connected with their hardware, though? How do you get paid for a video game? Well, console game businesses had the idea of putting the game in an inaccessible chunk of pseudo-hardware. This was fine, but is ultimately inefficient. Just look at how well it worked for the PC Junior. Is advertising the answer? Funding from other sources?
I just don't know. If I did know, I would be dictating this to a supermodel trained to type and suck my cock at the same time.
Joel M.
While the article swims in Sterling's trademarked journalistic hyperbole, it raises a fundamental point about information technology: free software is better software, but how do you get paid for it?
In some cases, software is just a part of hardware. This means that the price a piece of software that runs a specific piece of hardware can be included in the price of that hardware, with a premium added for upgrades and access allowed so that newer, better versions can be added as they become available.
What about pieces of software that are not so intimately connected with their hardware, though? How do you get paid for a video game? Well, console game businesses had the idea of putting the game in an inaccessible chunk of pseudo-hardware. This was fine, but is ultimately inefficient. Just look at how well it worked for the PC Junior. Is advertising the answer? Funding from other sources?
I just don't know. If I did know, I would be dictating this to a supermodel trained to type and suck my cock at the same time.
Joel M.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Very cool article about bots, pieces of software that, in this case, simulate OCD for people interested in the internet.
What is fascinating is the part of the article where he talks about bots designed to trade stocks and how "sniper" bots, those who hold back to the last second to scoop the bid, always win. This is the way that hotly contested e-bay auctions work too. The thing that was unlike e-bay was that, as the experiment dwindled to nothing but sniper bots, the market crashed. E-bay, on the other hand, provides a medium for these bots to work on and so would not stop working in the adsence of any users that were not snipers. When the medium that the bots work in is nothing but bots, though, someone has to be in the fray for a sniping strategy to work.
This is pretty arcane and I doubt that even I will be able to untangle this later. What caught my interest, though, is that this is how many games work: the person who wins is often the person who maintains the greatest amount of reserve force, but this requires that other people get into the game first. If everyone holds off, nothing happens. To further simplify, imagine a game of Risk in which all of the players simply added more and more armies and none attacked for fear that they would decimate themselves and an opponent in a fight, leaving a third party to clean up. Of course, this doesn't happen in Risk becase the game is immediately unstable since each player has a large surface area and limited armies right from the start, but the idea is still valid.
This is where psychology comes in in games: getting someone else to blink and commit his forces first and in such a way that you can profit, either because you can defend better than he can attack or because the offence is expended on a third party.
I think this sort of thing is why I like competitive games like Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. The game strategy extends to more than just the cards in my hands or the pieces on the board. The real game is played out in the hearts and minds of my opponents.
Joel M.
What is fascinating is the part of the article where he talks about bots designed to trade stocks and how "sniper" bots, those who hold back to the last second to scoop the bid, always win. This is the way that hotly contested e-bay auctions work too. The thing that was unlike e-bay was that, as the experiment dwindled to nothing but sniper bots, the market crashed. E-bay, on the other hand, provides a medium for these bots to work on and so would not stop working in the adsence of any users that were not snipers. When the medium that the bots work in is nothing but bots, though, someone has to be in the fray for a sniping strategy to work.
This is pretty arcane and I doubt that even I will be able to untangle this later. What caught my interest, though, is that this is how many games work: the person who wins is often the person who maintains the greatest amount of reserve force, but this requires that other people get into the game first. If everyone holds off, nothing happens. To further simplify, imagine a game of Risk in which all of the players simply added more and more armies and none attacked for fear that they would decimate themselves and an opponent in a fight, leaving a third party to clean up. Of course, this doesn't happen in Risk becase the game is immediately unstable since each player has a large surface area and limited armies right from the start, but the idea is still valid.
This is where psychology comes in in games: getting someone else to blink and commit his forces first and in such a way that you can profit, either because you can defend better than he can attack or because the offence is expended on a third party.
I think this sort of thing is why I like competitive games like Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. The game strategy extends to more than just the cards in my hands or the pieces on the board. The real game is played out in the hearts and minds of my opponents.
Joel M.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
So, just so it's out there, I am returning to the University of Calagary as of September 8, 2003.
Until school begins, I am going to work on my own, personal writing projects. In particular, I have a pretty interesting idea for a short story that I am developing. Also, I am going to output a flurry of applications to small newspapers across Canada, just to see if I get any nibbles...
And, of course, my Mom has 11 cubic yards of topsoil that she wants lugged from the driveway beside the house to the garden at te back of the yard. I loved havinga huge yard when I was growing up, but now? Not so much.
Joel M.
Until school begins, I am going to work on my own, personal writing projects. In particular, I have a pretty interesting idea for a short story that I am developing. Also, I am going to output a flurry of applications to small newspapers across Canada, just to see if I get any nibbles...
And, of course, my Mom has 11 cubic yards of topsoil that she wants lugged from the driveway beside the house to the garden at te back of the yard. I loved havinga huge yard when I was growing up, but now? Not so much.
Joel M.
MIT has done something absolutely fascinating. They have started posting lectures, labs and projects for free on the web! The address below is to a Wired article about the phenomeon.
Joel M.
Joel M.
Monday, August 25, 2003
Ted Rall has an interesting column about further Bush Administration corruption in occupied Iraq: MCI-Worldcom managed to buy themselves a sweetheart deal putting up the new cell-phone network. Just another success for the extended free-market system!
Joel M.
Joel M.
Found an interesting writing project today on a search for "Permanant Autonomous Zone." It is called the Permanent Autonomous Zone Operating Manual and it sounds very keen. It is something that I would really like to dig into.
Joel M.
Joel M.
This is the first post of my public blog.
Sorry, Allie, but the stuff in my first blog started to get a little too personal. I decided that, instead of figting it, that I would let it involve into the latest incarnation of my journal and that I would open up a public blog for stuff that I felt comfortable sharing.
Also, it was a pretty wordy and tedious thing to ask other people to read.
Joel M.
Sorry, Allie, but the stuff in my first blog started to get a little too personal. I decided that, instead of figting it, that I would let it involve into the latest incarnation of my journal and that I would open up a public blog for stuff that I felt comfortable sharing.
Also, it was a pretty wordy and tedious thing to ask other people to read.
Joel M.
